- [Narrator] When you think, "Survival mode",
it's natural to think of a sudden animal attack
or earthquake,
so when you find you're not getting things done
or the dishes are pulling up,
you usually scold yourself for being lazy,
because as far as you know,
there really aren't crocodiles in the toilet,
but, did you know your body will go into survival mode,
activating the lizard part of your brain
if anything overloads it
to indicate your demise might be imminent?
This can include things like prolonged grief,
severe abuse, or prolonged burnout.
This survival state is like booting in safe mode,
essential functions only.
Not sure if you're in survival mode or just lazy?
Here are some signs to help you tell the difference.
Number one, lack of focus or, "What?
What happened?
Where am I?"
Did you just read that page 10 times
and still don't know what it was about?
People call your name and you don't hear them?
You are so zoned out you can't seem to get anything done,
even though you're normally pretty good with this?
You just might be in survival mode instead of being lazy.
Your higher function brain is getting shut down
in favor of base survival,
so that project
or calculus homework is just not getting the priority
for thinking juice.
Number two, forgetting basic needs.
You look at yourself
and realize, "(sighs) I haven't brushed my teeth today
and I haven't showered for three days.
Did I eat today?"
Being in survival mode leaves you feeling drained
and unable to perform your daily activities well,
due to a lack of physical and emotional resources.
Number three.
You feel more tired than expected all the time.
Do you feel exhausted,
even though you haven't done anything strenuous?
You haven't been to a boot camp
and you aren't training for the Olympics,
yet you are starting to relate to Han Solo,
stuck in carbonite, both physically and mentally.
This could well be survival mode trying to conserve energy.
You feel tired, so survival mode screams,
"Conserve energy!
Stay still!
Sleep!"
But that ends up making you feel even more tired,
so the lizard brain continues trying
to make you conserve energy,
the only way it knows how.
Number four.
You're reacting more emotionally than usual.
whether you're normally chill or natural manic pixie,
you know when you're more reactive than normal.
If you found yourself getting snappy
or lashing out at things that mean nothing to you
or found yourself bursting out
into tears for no reason whatsoever,
there's a good chance this is survival brain at work.
When you are in survival mode,
our brains react impulsively in order to keep us alive.
It tries to convince us
that if we use executive functioning skills
to process the information, safety will not be guaranteed.
Number five.
Wait, what was the point again?
Oh, memory issues.
Have you ever felt that you have no idea
and don't even remember what you were doing yesterday?
You might feel disconnected and foggy
and if anyone asks you something simple,
something you know you know,
and your only response is a blank stare
because you can't remember,
♪ Dun dun dun ♪
survival brain.
Trauma can affect your memory
and make remembering the who what wheres
of your daily life very difficult.
And number six, you can only consider one task at a time.
Normally, you are a multitasking superpower.
You can write a paper while listening
to an audiobook and sneak in regular sips of coffee,
except lately, you can't.
In fact, the only way you can do anything right now is
considering one task at a time.
Get in line, single file please.
Just like putting your smartphone on battery saving mode
so it doesn't have background whatnots going on
and isn't doing multiple things like messages, emails
and scheduling texts all at once,
your brain is going into brain battery saving mode.
Speed has been reduced
and multitasking is no longer possible.
Let's sum it up with a quote from author Nakeia Homer,
"You are not lazy, unmotivated or stuck.
After years of living in survival mode, you are exhausted.
There's a difference."
Superficially, being
in a survival mode can resemble our perceived notions
of being lazy.
This is why it's so important
to find out why certain actions or inactions are happening.
Is it really conscious avoidance
or are they just trying to cling to life,
perhaps not even knowing they're doing what they're doing?
What we do know is that being
in constant survival mode is neither healthy, nor happy,
so it's necessary to clear out that which ails us
by making small changes.
Seeing a professional can also help us get started
on this journey.
Did any of these points click with you?
What kind of insight has it given
on something you've seen or heard
in yourself or someone else?
Share, discuss and comment,
we'd love to hear from you.
Thanks for watching and see you soon.